Skip to main content

Your Failures do not have to be Fatal

                I have wasted the last month looking for tires for my daughter’s truck.  I have been to every tire store in town.  I have searched the internet for deals.  I even bought a tire-changer so that I could install used tires if I found some good ones. 
                After seeing all of this, some of my friends have accused me of being “cheap”.  However, that is not the issue.  In fact, I eventually ordered new tires from one of the shops in town and I was happy about it.  I was not cheap.  I was scared of making a bad decision. 
                I hate being wrong and that is a problem!
                We all want others to think that we have our lives together and that we are capable of handling anything that comes our way.  That is good!  I believe that people should try to do their best all the time.  However, when we over emphasize the need to be right in everything, we create a culture where mistakes must be hidden and where we only talk about the good things that we do.  Unfortunately, when we demand perfection it leaves no room for failure and without failure, you cannot succeed!  Failure is an essential part of learning.  In fact, the only way to avoid making mistakes is to do nothing and that, in itself, is the biggest mistake.
                Therefore, maybe it is time to be a little more honest.  Maybe it is time to stop pretending as if we “have it all together” and be real with each another.  Maybe we need should stop parading all of our victories and be brave enough to talk about some of our defeats. In doing so, we will not only help someone else, but we will also free ourselves from our own unrealistic expectations.
                Admitting that I am not good enough on my own is the first step to the life that God wants me to live.  After all, it is only when we are able to admit our imperfections that we are able to accept God’s grace.  As Romans 3:23-24 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”.
                It is time for a new story.  One that revolves around God’s greatness and not mine.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

                 In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.   These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.   Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.   Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.                The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.   After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.   The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.                Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in
Post a Comment
Read more

Forgetting What Is Behind

                   Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule.                  Here is my generalization:   It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on.   The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us.   We remember and nurse old hurts.   We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls.   In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now.   In these cases, we would be better off “forgett
Post a Comment
Read more